


(Un)lucky Shot

by leporidae



Category: Fire Emblem Heroes, Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses, Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Anxiety, Askr (Fire Emblem Heroes), Gen, Kindred Spirits, Parallels, Self-Doubt, Self-Esteem Issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-05
Updated: 2020-04-05
Packaged: 2021-03-01 00:15:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,160
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23495896
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/leporidae/pseuds/leporidae
Summary: “Ah — you’re an archer?” Only then does he notice the bow and arrows slung across her back, a mirror image of his own. “Did you come out here to hunt?”
Relationships: Bernadetta von Varley & Takumi (Fire Emblem)
Comments: 9
Kudos: 53





	(Un)lucky Shot

**Author's Note:**

> Got to do a short piece for [Together We Ride Vol. 6](https://twitter.com/twrzine), a crossover zine featuring Three Houses characters and characters from the rest of the Fire Emblem series. I was assigned Bernadetta and I chose to write an interaction in a Heroes setting between her and Takumi, two very anxious, socially-awkward, and self-doubting archers.

Sunlight washes over the horizon as Takumi makes his way through the forest, shoes crunching through leaves and frozen soil. Early morning is the ideal time to hunt, before the other archers residing at Askr castle awaken and disturb his otherwise serene moment of solace with their presence. During his childhood in Hoshido, Takumi had learned from his experience living with three siblings that waking up earlier than others is often the only way to experience a moment of peace and solitude.

Takumi hears the rustle of foliage before he sees the deer silhouette dart through the trees, and his chest rises and falls with silent breaths as he slowly raises the bow. If he releases the arrow at the exact moment he spies the shape flickering through the branches, he can kill the animal in one painless instant — respectfully, and without alerting the rest of the forest to his presence.

The bowstring tenses as he slowly, _deliberately,_ pulls it back.

And then, someone screams.

A rush of annoyance washes over Takumi as the animal’s ears perk up, and with an alarmed cry the deer dashes off. Like clockwork the surrounding birds caw and take off in a flurry of wingbeats and feathers, and Takumi scowls, knowing the perfect opportunity for success has slipped away from him. 

Carefully, he releases the tension in the bowstring and lowers the arrow. With his free hand he bends down to pick up a small rock, which he tosses experimentally into the undergrowth. 

“E-eep!”

As he expects, the shriek comes from the direction in which he had thrown the rock. “Hello?” Another low whimper and rustle of leaves answers his call. Is the stranger spying on him? Takumi rolls his eyes, doing his best to swallow down rising frustration. “I know you’re there. If you don’t come out, I’ll shoot the bush.”

The threat is without substance, but it does the trick nonetheless. “N-no, I’m sorry, I’ll come out — please don’t hurt me!” The girl in question crawls out from the foliage on her hands and knees, looking up at Takumi with pitiful eyes and mussed, wild hair covered in sticks and leaves. Her ripped skirt looks to be part of a school uniform, and it drags through the dirt pathetically as she scurries forward. “I’m in your way, aren’t I? You want me to get lost, don’t you?!”

“No? Uh. Nothing like that.” Takumi clears his throat, suddenly feeling awkward faced with such a defeatist attitude, even worse than his own. “Ah — you’re an archer?” Only then does he notice the bow and arrows slung across her back, a mirror image of his own. “Did you come out here to hunt?” _And to mess me up with your shrieking?_ he thinks sourly but doesn’t say out loud.

The girl scrambles to her feet. “Y-yes, I’m Bernadetta. I was summoned here from Fodlan only last week, and Commander Anna told me we were running low on provisions. She said I could help with the hunting if I was a good shot… b-but I’m just so lousy at it! Whenever the animals start moving really suddenly, I can’t help but scream.” She sits up, fingers lacing together and separating, over and over, and Takumi can see her hands shaking. “I’m useless. I can’t even do the one thing I was told. I may as well just be dead!”

Takumi wants to reprimand her for her carelessness —

— but he can’t. Tears well at the corners of her eyes and her lip trembles with shame, a painfully fragile expression Takumi had seen plenty of times on his own easily-embarrassed younger sister. He softens. “Er, don’t say that,” he says awkwardly, attempting to comfort her. “Nobody just wakes up one day good at hunting. You just have to practice more. Then you won’t be so scared.”

Bernadetta sniffles. “I scared off that deer you were trying to hunt, didn’t I? I totally got in your way! You must — you must _hate_ me.”

“No, no, of course not,” Takumi interjects, suddenly anxious that he won’t be able to calm down her ranting before she escalates. _You remind me of Sakura, my younger sister,_ is what he means to say; what comes out instead is, “Everyone’s afraid of things. I am, too.”

_Why did I just admit that?_

“You are? Really?” Her posture straightens as she peers at him with renewed curiosity. “But you looked so composed with that bow in your hands a moment ago. You looked… resolved. More resolved than I am about anything,” she admits timidly. “A-and when I saw you looking so composed, I couldn’t help but look up to you… I’m sorry, I must sound like I was spying on you! Oh, Bernie, you sound like a total freak. May the Goddess strike me down where I stand!”

Takumi sighs. The girl is a bit dramatic for his tastes, but her heart is in the right place. And he himself is no stranger to anxiety. “My name’s Takumi, by the way,” he says, holding out his hand for her to shake. “I appreciate that you, uh, were looking up to me? But you shouldn’t. I’m not all that special, and I’m sure you’re good at things I can’t do,” he adds almost bitterly before shaking off his spiraling negative train of thought. “I’m not all that composed _or_ resolved. But… I can help you with your hunting technique, if you’d like.” _Even if I’m a terrible teacher._ Once again doubt nags at the back of his mind, and once again he pushes it aside. He will remain calm and steadfast if only to help soothe the nerves of the trembling Bernadetta — he _must._ “I mean. Only if you want. I can do my best?”

Bernadetta shakes his hand with surprisingly enthusiastic force. “R-really? You’d make time for me? Th-thank you, Takumi. You’re very nice! Oh, no — I feel like I may burst into tears at any second. Or throw up. Or faint.”

“Er, please try not to do any of those things,” Takumi implores weakly. Providing encouragement is difficult enough without also facing a sudden flood of waterworks. “It’s not much of a problem. If you get better at hunting, it’ll help everybody at the castle.”

Bernadetta clasps her hands together with a wobbly grin on her face. “Thank you so much! I’ll be much less useless this way.”

“I didn’t say you were —” Takumi begins to protest, before heaving another sigh. “Okay, lesson one: you really have to be a little quieter. If you shout, you’ll scare off all the —”

_“I’m sorrrrryyyyyy!”_

In the distance, another bird takes off into the sky with a startled squawk. Takumi rubs his temple with one finger, wondering if he’s going to regret making this offer. 

But when he watches Bernadetta’s blubbering, all he can see is his sister standing there, too shy to properly speak with strangers.

(And himself, full of self-doubt.)

How could he say no?


End file.
